“Being normal is vastly overrated,” declared grandma Aggie Cromwell in Halloweentown (1998). Certainly, life has so much to offer: things curious, magical, mysterious and strange. Weird antiques and vintage objects especially are so interesting to us because they’re unfamiliar. What back then perhaps was the norm, today seems peculiar and spooky.

Museum of Curiosities is a place of such wonder, showcasing strange and interesting finds. It’s like opening a virtual cabinet of curiosities. The treasures are shared and curated by Monsieur Pompier’s Travelling Freakshow – an authentic and original group of oddballs that are no amateurs in spooky entertainment. So prepare to be amazed, our dear pandas, as we present to you our third feature on Monsieur Pompier’s Museum of Curiosities!

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#1 This Is Bertha Boronda.⁠ ⁠ Bertha Was Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison For “Mayhem” In 1908

Bertha cut off her husband’s penis with a straight razor and fled the scene by bicycle

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#2 Water Damaged Copy Of “Alice's Adventures In Wonderland” Which Grew Fungi.⁠ ⁠ (Photo By Igor Siwanowicz)

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#3 Perfume Bottle Consisting Of Eight Glass Bottles As Orange Segments, Set In Painted Ceramic Holder. (Ca. 1925)

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#4 Reusable Shopping List From The 1950s

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#5 17th Century Poison Cabinet Disguised As A Book

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#6 Rare Set Of 16th Century Italian Notation Knives With Musical Notes Engraved On The Blade, Meant To Be Sung As Grace Before A Meal

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#7 Self-Defense Glove For Ladies (London, 1850)

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#8 Ann Lockley Taking Tea With A Baby Hawk And A Lobster

Ann lived on the island of Skokholm, where her family were the only inhabitants and animals were pals. This photo was taken for a 1938 National Geographic story ‘We Live Alone and Like It — On An Island’

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#9 Late-1800s Brothel Candles. Wen The Candle Burned Out The Session Was Over

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#10 In 1963, The Bronx Zoo Held A Unique Exhibit It’s Name Was “The Most Dangerous Animal In The World” And As You Can See From The Picture, The Most Dangerous Animal Is A Human

They used a mirror so people could see their reflection and also added bars to represent a cage.

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#11 Bat Lantern (Circa 1930)

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#12 Victorian Era Radiator With Bread Warmer

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#13 Obstetric Phantom, 18th Century. The Wood And Leather Model Was Used To Teach Medical Students, And Possibly Midwives, About Childbirth

It came from the Hospital del Ceppo in Pistoia, near Florence, founded in 1277

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#14 Chopines Are Platform Shoes That Were Worn By Women In The 15th, 16th And 17th Century

Made with a very tall wooden platform, these shoes protected the dress from mud and street dust. They became very popular in Venice and were worn by noble women and courtesans

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#15 Tutankhamun Wore Socks With His Sandals

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#16 Corner Piano

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#17 1950s Ovaltine Advert

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#18 Antique Victorian Crystal Poison Bottle, 1890

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#19 Unlucky

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#20 Black Cat Auditions In Hollywood (1961)

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#21 This Russian Family Portrait Was Taken Back In 1886. The Father Had An Obsession With Pool, And Dressed His Children Like Billiard Balls

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#22 Egyptian--Phoenician Glass Dog Head Bead, 6th-4th Century Bc

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#23 Myrtle Corbin, Known As The Four-Legged Girl From Texas, Was A Dipygus

She was born with a severe congenital deformity of conjoined twining that caused her to have two separate pelvises and a smaller set of inner legs that she was able to move.

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#24 This Mannequin Was Designed By Angelique Marguerite Le Boursier Du Coudray During The 1700’s

It was used for teaching midwifery. Madame Du Coudray spent 25 years travelling the towns and cities of France, teaching her methods and selling her mannequins

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#25 Contraption Worn By A Mid-19th Century Women Who Lost Her Nose To Syphilis

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#26 Victorian Era "Ritter" Road-Skates Or Foot Bicycles, Ca 1898

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#27 The Retired Heads Of Madame Tussauds

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#28 This Medieval House In Aveyron, France, Dates Back To The 13th Century And Was Built Top-Heavy As A Cost-Saver, Because At The Time, Homes Were Taxed On Ground-Floor Square Footage

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#29 A Knocker-Upper Was Someone Whose Purpose Was To Wake People Up During A Time When Alarm Clocks Were Expensive And Not Very Reliable

They earned about six pence a week using a pea shooter to shoot dried peas at the windows of sleeping workers in East London, 1930s

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#30 A Neon Salesman's Sample Case, Circa 1935

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#31 The Breastplate Of Cuirassier 19 Years Old Antoine Fraveau, Struck And Killed By A Canonball During Battle Of Waterloo (1815)

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#32 World's Smalllest Man In 1956, Henry Berhens, Dancing With His Cat

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#33 Authentic 16th Century Plague Doctor Mask Preserved And On Display At The German Museum Of Medical History

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#34 Horse Costume Taken From Jean Cocteau’s Le Testament D'orphée (Testament Of Orpheus), Designed By Janine Janet, 1960

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#35 The Old Gentleman Of Raahe Is Believed To Be The Oldest Surviving Diving Suit In The World, Dating Back From The Early 1700s

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#36 The Lava Lamp Inventor With His Wife In 1963

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#37 Little Richard Doll

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#38 1887, Alice In Wonderland

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#39 Carved Ivory And Ebony Skeleton With Gravedigger's Shovel, Dated 1632. State Art Collections, Dresden

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#40 Photographer Unknown, Possibly Paleontologist Alfred Romer. Nelda Wright In The Skull Of A Kronosaurus, 1958. Harvard University Archives

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#41 Daddy Saddle

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#42 Victorian Mourning Ring With Glass Eye Of The Deceased Ca. 1890

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#43 Egyptian Gold Sandals And Toe Caps Circa 1500 B.c

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#44 Museum In Japan That Showcases Various Naturally Formed Rocks With Faces On Them

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#45 "Winkie" Blinking Eyeball Novelty Ring From 1962

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#46 Rubber “Beauty Masks” Worn To Get Rid Of Wrinkles And Skin Imperfections, 1921

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#47 Wax Model Of A French Sailor With Skin Disease Of The Nose, Made In 1894

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#48 Painless Dentist

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#49 Kiss Your Favorite Beatle! 16 Magazine, 1965

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#50 Past - Present - Future?⁠

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#51 This Was Once The Oldest House In Hamburg Germany. It Was Built In 1504 And Was Demolished In 1910

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#52 Fly Me To The Moon

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#53 1930s Baby Rattle

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#54 The 14th Century Tomb Of François I De La Sarra, Who Is Spending Eternity With Frogs Feasting On His Face And Genitals, And Worms And Snakes Nibbling On His Body

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#55 Norton's "Smile And Cry" Baby Face Soap, 1930-39

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#56 The House Of Nonsense

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#57 Michelin Men

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#58 To Copyright Their Unique Looks, Professional Clowns Submit Their Likeness To The Clowns International Group, Who Paint Eggs To Match The Hair, Makeup And Costumes Of Each Performer, And Then Files Them In The Clown Egg Register

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#59 The Little People Of The Woods Published By Birn Brothers, 1940s

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#60 The Bee's Knees

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#61 Creepy Donald Duck Costume

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#62 Happy Caturday

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#63 “The Isolator“ – A Bizarre Helmet From 1925 Designed To Improve Work Productivity

Hugo Gernsback (August 16, 1884 – August 19, 1967), was a Luxembourgish-American inventor, writer, editor, engineer, designer, businessman, and magazine publisher

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#64 70s Wool Nose Warmer

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#65 Bear With Me

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#66 Boneheads

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#67 Pontchartrain Beach, New Orleans — 1962

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#68 Mr And Mrs Aardvark

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#69 1944 Maria Montez, In Universal Pictures’ South Seas Adventure Film, Cobra Woman

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#70 A 1930s Vision Of The Future

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#71 Aftermath Of A Fire At Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum In London, 1930

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#72 The Perfect Gift

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#73 Phoney People

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#74 Woman In The 1930s Going Through An Attitude Adjustment Program

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#75 Professor Meredith Thring And His Stair-Climbing Chair Prototype In 1964

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#76 Lee A. Merlin Was Crowned Miss Atomic Bomb In 1957

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#77 Women At Butlins Holiday Camp Wearing Marilyn Monroe Face Masks In Clacton-On-Sea, England, 1952

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#78 Ophthalmologist Signs In Taiwan, 1962

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#79 Ice Cube Face Mask By Max Factor, 1947

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#80 Feeding Time

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#81 Cabbages And Crime

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#82 A Junior Officer And A Soldier From A German Field Artillery Unit Wearing Acoustic Optical Locating Apparatus

The goggles had a small aperture so when they heard an approaching aircraft and turned their head towards it, the plane would be visible

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#83 The Le Passe-Muraille (Passer-Through-Walls ) Sculpture In The Paris Catacombs

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#84 "The Bat" From A German Fashion Magazine C.1951.the Mask Was Created By The French Make Up Artist Fernand Aubry

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#85 Worms

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#86 Archduke Franz Ferdinand Posing Like A Mummy During A Trip To Cairo In 1896

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#87 Brains 25¢

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#88 Hi

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#89 Good Afternoon

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#90 A Device For Mouth X-Raying (1920)

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#91 Luna Park, Melbourne

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#92 Cover Art By David Mattingly From 1983 For “The Land Of Laughs” By Jonathan Carroll

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#93 Egg Lady

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#94 1920s Soviet Demonstration With A Large Sculpture Of A Pig

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#95 Beauty Treatments At Helena Rubinstein’s Salon, 1940s

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#96 Mechanized Gorilla Head Gear Worn By Ray 'Crash' Corrigan In White Pongo (1945)

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#97 Snow Fooling

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